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Saturday, July 11, 2009

This Just In: George Bush Still Isn't President

With the economy continuing to tank the AP, for the second day, continues its hopeful attempt to divert our attention back to the true source of the nation's woes, George W. Bush. It is flogging a story how the former president may have overstepped his bounds when upping surveillance via wiretapping following the 9/11 attacks eight years ago (and to drive their point home, sort of, they accompany the story with unflattering pics like this of his odious visage).

WASHINGTON – Not enough relevant officials were aware of the size and depth of an unprecedented surveillance program started under President George W. Bush, let alone signed off on it, a team of federal inspectors general found.

The Bush White House pulled in a great quantity of information far beyond the warrantless wiretapping previously acknowledged, the IGs reported. They questioned the legal basis for the effort but shielded almost all details on grounds they're still too secret to reveal.

Funny thing, though, about this egregious violation of the rights of suspected terrorists, one that the AP doesn't get around to revealing until paragraph six (safely past the jump in print editions): "Just what those activities involved remains classified, but the [inspectors general] pointedly say that any continued use of the secret programs must be 'carefully monitored.'" In other words, those police-state wiretapping programs are still in place today; here and now during the administration of...of...oh yes, Him.

Note, however, the AP's use of the word "pointedly" when describing the IGs' caution to the present administration how the programs are employed, thus reminding us gently who will ultimately bear the blame should their use get out of hand.